On his side
by The Little House Scribe
Summary: Sirius Black receives a useful ally in his attempts to help Harry. Oneshot.


**On his side.**

Dinner was a tense affair on a particular night in a house along Grimmauld place, and for good reason. Sirius Black was restless, continually pestering Albus Dumbledore about bringing Harry Potter to him; Black, of course, wasn't going to break Dumbledore's rule about him not leaving the house – yet. This brought him into conflict with Molly Weasley, who thought Sirius was brash and irresponsible – and leading her children to disorder, especially the twins – Fred and George, who had struck up a rapport with the ex-convict. In addition to this, Arthur, who would have normally had been a calming influence on his wife, was dealing with his own issues arising from his third son Percy's estrangement from the family.

In the middle of this were the youngest children, Ron, Hermione and Ginny. Ron and Hermione were especially concerned with contacting Harry; but they would not go against Dumbledore's direct order to not post any mail out of the house or to Harry.

"Thank you for a lovely repast, Molly." Albus Dumbledore began graciously, rising from his seat.

"Thank you, Albus." Mrs Weasley replied, and Sirius Black rose up as well.

This was fast becoming a familiar feature in Number 12, Grimmauld Place.

"Albus…" Sirius began quietly; but it didn't matter, everyone could still hear him. "Harry needs…"

Dumbledore raised a hand to cut Sirius off. "As I've stated before, Sirius, there is nothing we can do at the moment. I have spoken about the implications numerous times to you. If there is something you cannot fully understand."

Sirius suppressed an annoyed snarl at Dumbledore's semi-condescending manner, and was about to retort when Mrs Weasley cut him off.

This hadn't happened before – the Weasleys had stayed out of the conversation and pretended not to notice it.

"As the Headmaster has said on numerous occasions, there is nothing you can do. So instead of instigating unnecessary tension, why don't you relax and stop showing Albus unnecessary disrespect. You may not be aware of it, but a responsible godfather does not rush off on the slightest whim!" Mrs Weasley finished; her voice shriller than when it had begun.

Sirius turned to Mrs Weasley, and for a moment, the hollow, sunken look that he had worn in Azkaban flitted over his face, and he looked positively mad.

The explosion happened a second later.

But it wasn't from Sirius. It came from the other end of the table. Ginny threw her chair backwards with such force that it smashed against the wall and fell to the ground. Ginny herself had leapt up and stared intensely at her mother and Headmaster.

"How dare you!" Ginny began quietly, but in the suddenly soundless environment it carried as much weight as the loudest scream would have.

Ginny stalked around the kitchen table, past the twins and her father, who made no attempt to stop her, until she was at last face-to-face with her mother, who was visibly fuming. Dumbledore's expression was impassive; unreadable. Sirius's brow was furrowed slightly, as if he couldn't quite believe what was happening.

Ron and Hermione was slack-jawed, sitting next to where Sirius was standing.

Mrs Weasley began to open her mouth, but Ginny cut her off instantly.

"Maybe Sirius is behaving like this because he knows exactly how Harry feels!" Ginny roared, but Mrs Weasley was not easily intimidated.

"I can understand how Sirius and Harry must be feeling, cooped up…" Mrs Weasley began.

"Cooped up! That's bad enough in its own right-"

"Miss Weasley, I can understand your concern about Mr Potter's welfare, but I can assure you we are doing everything possible for him." Albus Dumbledore said calmly, as Albus Dumbledore's coolness in crisis shone through.

"You daft dimwits!" Ginny began incredulously, sending the twins into fits of jittery giggles.

"You will not speak to the Headmaster that way, young lady! Apologise and go up to your room. Never in my life have I been so…"

Ginny knew she was being very, very rude, and there would be a price to pay for it; but if she was in for a Knut, she was in for a Galleon.

"It's not just restlessness!" Ginny began loudly, but quietened as she realised she could be in for a marathon conversation. "In case it has slipped anyone's mind, it was merely weeks ago that Harry saw Cedric murdered before his very eyes. Harry himself barely escaped with his life! Now you put him with people who cannot understand and worse, don't care about him and then, to top it all off, you cut him off from the very people he needs most of all!"

"Arthur…" Mrs Weasley began to ask her husband, who looked absolutely exhausted. "Do something."

"I think Ginny's raising some interesting points." Mr Weasley said, unwilling to take sides. Mrs Weasley huffed, but to everyone's great surprise, Dumbledore agreed with him.

"You bring up valid concerns, Miss Weasley, however, no matter how unpleasant the matter may be, there are forces at work here that cannot be ignored. There are wards that protect Harry there, and for the whole, and we all agree that Mr Potter needs as much help as he can get."

Ginny pulled an 'are you kidding me?' face, "Let us talk about those Wards. Voldemort can now touch Harry so it doesn't make sense to keep him there..."

"There are other advantages to ensuring the wards stay up; ones that we may not fully appreciate at this moment."

"Alright, even if the wards are absolutely essential, the properties of which are, as you say yourself, still shrouded in mystery, there is no reason to cut Harry off completely. Even I could come up with a way to contact him without using magic and at minimal risk of exposing us to Death Eaters. Please, Headmaster, help him. He needs us." And we need him, and if you don't, I'll do it myself; was Ginny's unspoken meaning.

To general astonishment, Dumbledore acquiesced. "I will arrange contact with Mr Potter. It may take a few days though."

"Thank you, Headmaster." Ginny replied with a smile, shared by Sirius. Then the smile slid off Ginny's face as she fully realised she would be in massive trouble. _Oh well, it was worth it._

"A lovely day to you all." Dumbledore said, tipping his hat.

"Don't think you're off the hook, young lady."Mrs Weasley hissed. "You are lucky you weren't expelled!"

"Expelled?" Dumbledore asked from the doorway. "My dear Molly; it's been a long time since I've had the pleasure of having something sensible shouted at me. If you would excuse me, I have an appointment with Cornelius."

Dumbledore paused as though pondering something. "Miss Weasley, would you consider joining the Hogwarts choir?"


End file.
